US troops in Kuwait came under ‘terrorist’ attack

KUWAIT CITY: A collision between a truck driven by an Egyptian and a vehicle carrying three US soldiers in Kuwait was a “terrorist attack,” not an accident as first thought, the embassy confirmed Sunday.

“US Embassy in Kuwait confirms that what at first appeared to be a routine traffic accident involving three deployed US military personnel… was in fact an attempted terrorist attack,” the mission said in a statement posted on its website.

The statement said the attack took place on Thursday and that the US soldiers escaped unhurt.

The soldiers also rescued the Egyptian driver when his truck caught fire, it said.

The Kuwaiti interior ministry said on Saturday that authorities arrested the Egyptian driver and found with him a hand-written note in which he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group.

It also said that the driver, identified as Ibrahim Sulaiman, 28, also carried a belt and material suspected of being explosives.

The ministry said the attack was on five Americans without saying they were troops.

The US embassy said it was not aware of specific, credible threats against private US citizens in Kuwait at this time.

But it warned that the attack serves as a reminder to maintain a high level of vigilance, advising US citizens to review their personal security plans and remain alert.

Kuwaiti authorities announced in July they had dismantled three IS cells plotting attacks, including a suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque and against an interior ministry target.

An IS-linked suicide bomber killed 26 worshippers in June last year when he blew himself up in a mosque of Kuwait’s Shiite minority, in the worst such attack in the Gulf state’s history. AFP